Tay House

At the outset of the Tay House project, the University undertook to try to respond to every question submitted by staff involved in the relocation. Here is the final batch of outstanding responses.  In most cases, the delay in responding was the result of the need for further consultations with staff, the process of working out solutions - especially with the parking issues - and the absence of sufficient evidence on which to base a final resolution. As ever, if you want to discuss any of these issues, speak to your own Move Leads...or email:

communications@glasgow.ac.uk

Questions and Answers

• Can an explanation be given why no additional travel costs will be provided for those who will now have to use public transport, but the University will pay the additional parking costs for those with parking permits?

Answer: The University does not normally pay the cost of travel to work and the distance between Gilmorehill and Tay House is less than two miles. The undertaking to assist those with existing parking permits at Gilmorehill was made simply to avoid major upheaval for those who currently have the ability to park on campus, although the permit does not guarantee a space at busy times. 

• (What about) assistance/procedures for those using public transport in the same way those who drive(and have parking permits) are to be ‘no worse off’ – i.e. staff using public transport are likely to be travelling greater distances and therefore suffering an increase in travel costs.  Can all staff be assured no one will face additional costs for travel?

Answer: The University is doing nothing to assist drivers with the cost of their journey to the workplace after the move to Tay House. We see parking permits as a different issue. We have suggested that any member of staff with a serious concern about their journey to Tay House should first discuss this with their line manager.

• Will the University provide public transport season tickets/zone cards to help staff move between campuses and to cover the additional expense faced on public transport?

Answer:  A great deal of discussion and research (Travel Survey, etc.) has gone in to the consideration of parking and transport issues. The University will purchase blocks of Flexi-10 tickets for intercampus travel by public transport and there will also be a taxi account for inter campus travel.  It is likely that we will try to develop a system for taxi sharing during weekdays at Tay House.  We are working on a system by which staff can easily pick up a Flexi-10 ticket when they need to.

Allocation of Parking Spaces

• How will spaces be allocated? Will we be allocated a car park or will we have to try different car parks until we find a space?
• If there is not enough secured parking spaces for all staff who request it, how will the spaces be allocated?
• How will parking work?  Will it be dedicated spaces or a hunt for a space? What happens if no spaces available when you arrive?
• Can we look at the circumstances of those on fixed hours to help with the first come, first served approach to parking? 

Answer: A car parking allocation workshop was held on 10 October for Move Leads and Departmental Leads and then managers checked with permit holders to ask for their final decision on whether they will be:

1. Giving up their parking permit
2. Retaining their parking permit at Gilmorehil
3. Relocating their parking permit to Tay House, Elmbank Street or Q-Park Sauchiehall Street

For those picking Option 3, agreement was reached at the workshop that the preferred method of allocation of parking was on the basis of a ballot of all the available parking spaces. (To be conducted annually or following any significant change in circumstances). The ballot was duly held during a meeting of the Programme Team / Move Leads on 13 November. Staff have now been notified of the draw results and who has been allocated which car park.

Staff who have already indicated that they preferred to give up their permit or retain a Gilmorehill permit will not be invited to confirm their preference again or entered into the ballot. It is not expected that dedicated, allocated bay(s) of spaces will be provided for University of Glasgow staff in the car parks outwith Tay House. In other words, just as happens at Gilmorehill, a parking permit does NOT always guarantee you a parking place.

• Are staff still able to utilise University parking, then possibly use public transport to get to Tay House?
• Will there be transport from Gilmorehill to Tay House?

Answer: Yes, you can park at Gilmorehill if you have a valid permit, and then walk or use public transport to get to Tay House.

• If we give up our car park permit will be guaranteed a permit when we are reallocated back to campus?

Answer: No, the permit scheme is currently closed and pressure on parking will increase as big infrastructure schemes get underway at Gilmorehill. It’s likely you will have to reapply at some future point. Such is the scale of the redevelopment of Gilmorehill and the Western Infirmary site over the next decade and beyond, it is just impossible to be able to predict parking trends and parking options.

• How will reception be covered? Will there even be one?

Answer: Yes, a reception desk is being installed in the open area as you enter the University's 6th floor offices: how we staff that desk is being discussed and planned just now.

Seating plan, milk supplies, mail etc.

• How and who will decide the seating plan? Will we have any input/involvement?

Answer: The new office layout has now been agreed and was issued to the contractors who are now proceeding on the fit-out.  The decision making process was conducted by the individual departments and discussed with teams. A copy of this layout is on the Tay House web pages. You can also talk to your Move Lead.

• Will the University still be providing coffee, tea and milk

Answer: This is one of the things we are trying to work towards coming out of a shared budget. And that shared budget is still undergoing discussion. The idea will be to order milk as required and get it delivered and then distribute the cartons to departments/units accordingly. It would then be billed to the shared budget. The same would apply to tea/coffee, that is being ordered along with stationery etc.

• Will there be adequate dining/canteen space available to allow staff to take their one hour lunch break away from their desk bearing in mind there will be a couple of hundred people in the office with lunch breaks over the period from 12pm – 2pm.

Answer: There are open plan seating areas and the list of facilities is now on the Tay House pages.  We expect people to have a range of options, depending on their preferences: eating in the office or getting away from the office for a while during their breaks.

• Will staff be permitted to eat at their desks as food smells will be very distracting for other staff especially hot foods.

Answer: A lot of work has been done by the culture change workstream. The best guidance is: do as you would be done by. We all need to be considerate of others.

• Who will be responsible for the facilities management and cleaning in Tay House?

Answer: Some building services will be covered by the Tay House building management team. Details for the cleaning arrangements at Tay House are being finalised at the moment.

Mail, touch-down at Gilmorehill, printing

• How will we get our mail – will it be delayed coming from Gilmorehill? Double handling of mail increases of change of mail being lost.

Answer: The mail delivery is being managed by the University's own mail room team and we do not expect any problems with this.  You should receive your mail just as you do currently and outgoing mail will be picked up.

• Touch-down space on campus – where will it be, what facilities will there be? How can you book it and how will the space be secured?

Answer: Touch-down space is being organised, principally in the current Estates and Buildings block. The bookings process is currently being finalised and we will make this available before the first of the moves in the New Year.

• What is going to happen with the space we are vacating?

Answer: The University is in need of more learning and teaching space and more social space for students and staff. It is likely that the vacated space will be taken over for learning and teaching. In some cases, other University staff may move in, only to free up space for Learning and Teaching elsewhere.

• Will printing facilities be in place on Gilmorehill?

Answer: Tay House will be served by the Canon Multi-Function Devices (printers/scanners/copiers/Faxes) as part of our Managed Print/Pull Print system.

• Storage/Scanning of existing files and drawings: will an external company be brought to manage all scanning requirements - to be prepared in a format compatible with the appropriate Document Management System?

Answer: Yes, we have been talking to external contractors. Our own IT Services staff have also been actively engaged in providing solutions to some of the scanning and storage problems.

• Will local flexi-time arrangements remain in place? Is there a chance these will be taken away? Staff value these arrangements.      Will flexi-time be available for all members of staff (to accommodate public transport timetables)

Answer: Flexi-time arrangements will not be taken away.  In fact it is expected they will be extended to some of the staff relocating to Tay House. (Up to Grade 6.)  If you think you might have difficulties with public transport schedules, then please talk in the first instance to your line manager.

• Will headphones be allowed in the open plan?

Answer: We have had a work stream looking at 'work practices' and we have also held the workshops to try to have open discussions about these sorts of issues. We have also been talking to the Move Leads and Move Representatives from all the departments involved with the Tay House relocation. The best advice, as always, is try to be considerate of your colleagues and 'do as you would be done by'.

• There's a rumour that Xmas decorations aren’t allowed in Tay House as they are a fire hazard. Is this correct? Is there a list of items excluded? 

Answer: The Tay House management put up some of their own seasonal decorations.  On leased floors, it is up to the rules and regulations of the individual tenants. We publish these every December in the Campus eNews: don't light candles and tea-lights etc., stick to 12v Christmas lights and avoid mains lights. Make sure your decorations are safe and the sort of thing you'd trust in your own home.  

We have had one or two questions about mail, deliveries, provision of stationery etc. We are compiling a "Guide to Working at Tay House" and this will be in your Welcome Pack when you move and also will be placed on the MyGlasgow Staff portal.

• What arrangements are in place for any meetings with students that are required? Will we be able to offer students the chance to meet at Tay House or must it be kept on campus?

Answer: We would expect the vast majority of meetings with students to take place on campus and for meetings normnally to be arranged in that way. The most obvious venues for meetings on Campus will be bookable meeting rooms at Gilmorehill, or perhaps with help from Student Services.

You can also still view the hundreds of questions and answers that have already been posted:

www.gla.ac.uk/staff/tayhouse/questionsandanswers/

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First published: 16 December 2014